Door construction



April 2, 1935;.

C. H. WIDMAN DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet, 1

INVENTOR ffl M62747.

ATTORNEYS.

April 2, 1935. c. H. WIDMAN DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 6, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 v E E flws M o mvm W 1 W /m a 5 flm a M c Patented Apr;2, 1935 'poration of Delaware Application September 6, 'i922,"s"er.ia1nbits sit V f One object of my invention is toprovide a novelconstruction for metal VGhlClGldOOI'S composed of a minimum number ofparts so arranged in their relation to one. another that'theconstruction may be accomplished more cheaply than.con-- ventionalconstructions.

Another object of my invention is .to provide a construction for a metalvehicle door,having a window opening'in its upper portion, whereinexpensive flanging operationsheretofore ne'cessary to the formation of'the door around the window opening may be eliminated, and the necessarybending and forming of the metal around the window opening accomplishedmore cheaply than has been possible heretofore.

Another object of my invention is to provide a metal door for a vehiclehaving a window opening in its upper portion, wherein the side and topmembers of the door surrounding'the window opening may be formed as aunit-o'f'one {piece of material and applied as such to the remainder ofthe door parts, th reby eliminating the supplemental or additionalframing or'fini'shing mem-' bers that have commonly been used in suchconstructions heretofore.

With these andother objects in view my invention consists in the:construction, combination and arrangement of parts: set forth andclaimed in the following specification and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which: Figure 1- is an elevational view of theouter side of the upper portion of a metal veh cle door em bodying myinvention and having parts broken away to better illustrate theconstruction;

line 2-2 of Figure 1; V

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken online 33 of Figure l; p 40:Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view line 4-4 of Figure 1; v

- Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view takenon the line 5-5 of Figure 15 vFigure dis a sectional view taken on the line 45 6'6 of Figure 2; i

Figures '1 and 8.are modifications .ofthe construction and jointillustrated in Figure 6;

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of part of a door, having parts brokenaway, andillustrating a modified form of joint between the upper andlower parts of the door;

Fig. 10 is across-sectional view taken on line l9-|ll of.Fig. 9; r Y wFig. 11 is-a cross-sectional view taken on line H- qfFiaQ;

talzen on the Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken onthe Fig; 12 isacross-sectional viewtakenon line l2 ,.-,l2 ofFigtQ; and I =1 FigL113 isa cross-sectional view taken on line l3 l3"of FigrlO. i;

The construction illustrated comprises general- 5 1y, an innerpanelmember extending from the bottom of; the window opening tothebottom of the door 'havingyits edges along the sides and bottom,laterally flanged and extending at right anglesto the plane of the panelto'form thejamb 0 or width at thedoor. =1 Ingthe construction shown; theouter edge of this lateral flange is bent over toprovide a dooroverlapping flange or stop in the a usual'mannein; This inner vpanelconstitutes the marginjraminga of'the door below the window 15 I openingand also thebox section which provides thewell intowhich'the verticallysliding window may be lowered. An outer-or finishpanelgis also provided,which consists ofia single piece of sheet metal having-its edgesextended to provide a door overlapping :fiange orstop, ,and secured'tothe corresponding edges of the inner panel. The sides and top of. the;door around the window opening are formed, of a single piece of sheetmetalwhich may be rolled or stamped toshape as desired,.

and which is, bent to agenerally .U-shaped form andis securedatits endsby-butt or lap. welding or other-suitable-meansin relation to the upperedge 'of the inner and outer panel members at their'upper; corners. Thistop member-forms a 3.0 continuation. ,ofthe outside panel, and whenwelded or; similarly secured to the upper edges ofthis panel, is flushtherewith and the joint maybe workedover sothatit isnotvisible. By

so forming the members of the door as described, it. isypossible' to.eliminate expensive equipment and operationsnow essential to theformation of theouterpaneli I It is thepresent custom to make the outerpanel foimthe door, from top to bottom and around the'window opening,from a singlepiece of sheet metal. which is formed 'fto shape bystamping. In the first stampingoperation'it is customary to shear outthe window opening and'to partly bend in .the edges ofwthe' panel aroundthe window opening. It "is thennecessary to "perform' an-' otherstamping operation, which'necessitates another press and other' dies;for the purpose of completely;flanging-in, as it is termed, the edges ofthe metal panel around the window open- 5 ing to provide theornamentalshape-around the window opening for whatis known as the windowreveal, andalso toprovide a rabbeted seat for the edges of the windowglass which is later installed, andwhich slides vertically in the planeboth parts I 0 and 15. As shown in Figure 8, the upper edge of the partIn may be bent over to form a flange 42 which extends over the upperedge of the part l5 and the end of the member 25 may be bent to form aflange 43 which rests upon this and is welded to the flange 42. Theflange 62 in this case being also preferably welded to the upper edge ofthe part l5.

In Figs. 9 to 13 I have illustrated-a cap Joint between the upper panelmember 25 and the lower panels I!) and Hi.

The lower ends of the member 25 are offset inwardly as at 89 andextended downwardly as at 5i, Fig. 13, and the flange 6| isspot weldedto the flange i5 of the lower inner panel 14, leaving a flush exteriorjoint at 62 betweenthe upper panel 25 and the lower outer panel I0. Thisjoint may be filled with solder or filed smooth for complete concealmentif desired. The door overlap flange or stop 26 at this joint may behandled as follows. At the lower end of the overlap flange 26 on. theupper panel '25 the rounded and return bent margin is cut away along theedge of the offset portion 6| so that such offset portion 6| may overlapand lay along 'the rear side of the door overlap flange [3 .(Fig.

5) formed on the inner panel I4 as shown in Figs. 11 and 13. Thispermits the end of'the rounded and return bent portion of the dooroverlap flange on the panel 25 just above the ofiset flange 6| to abutthe end of rounded and return bent door overlap flange on lower outerpanel 10 and make a flush joint therewith. The return bent portion ofthe door overlap'26 on the lower panel 10 is cut away at this point, asat 63, Fig. 11, to provide room for the offset flange 5! on the panel25, and to eliminate the extra thickness of metal which would otherwiseoccur at this point.

Referring now to Fig. 3, I have illustrated a reinforcing member for theupper panel 25. This member is optional, and may be continuousthroughout the length of member 25, or only at spaced intervals, such aspoints where it is desired to fasten the wing plates of hinges (notshown) to the door. The reinforcing member consists of a separate metalplate laid along the rear side of the panel 25 as shown in Fig. 3

and secured thereto by spot welding. The outer edge of the member 18'may be inserted in the return bent portion of the overlap flange 26 asshown and secured by spot welding.

It will be noted in the drawings that there is some variation in thethickness of the metal employed in the members In, M and 25. This may beas desired. All parts may beof the same thickness or they may be ofdifferent thicknesses without affecting the operation and utility of theinvention.

In Figures 3 and 5 it willbe noted that portions of the door post in thevehicle body are shown for purposes of illustration and are indicated byv the numeral 5|]. I 7 7 It will be understood that, while thedescription of the joint and method of joining the upper and lowerpanelmembers referred to only. one of the joints, that it applies alsoto the other joint. Formal changes. may be made in the specificembodiment of the invention described without departingfrom the spiritand substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensuratewith the'appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a metal vehicledoor, outer and inner panels extending to form theledge of a window opening, a complete finishand framing member for saiddoor as an independent'element dis- 2. A door constructed of independentupper and lower portions, the lower portion embodying stamped sheetmetal elements-terminating substantially at the window ledge, and aninde.- Y,

pendent preformed strip of predetermined cross section secured to saidlower portion and forming the upper side and top of the door anddefining.

a window opening therein;

3. A door constructed of independent uppen and lower portions, the lowerportion comprising a box section element terminating substantially atthe window-ledge, and the upper portion including an independentpreformed strip of in verted U-shape secured to said elements to formthe upper sides and top of the door which defines a window opening. 7

4. A door constructed of independent upper and lower portions, thelowerportion comprising a box section element preformed at its top edgeto constitute a window ledge, the upper portion. comprising anindependent preformed strip of inverted U'-shape secured to said elementto form the upper sides andtop of the door and. to define a windowopening. I i I CHARLES H'. WIDMAN.

